Bob Clement | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTennessee's5th district | |
| In office January 19, 1988 – January 3, 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Bill Boner |
| Succeeded by | Jim Cooper |
| President ofCumberland University | |
| In office 1983–1988 | |
| Preceded by | Ernest Stockton |
| Succeeded by | Walker Buckalew |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Robert Nelson Clement (1943-09-23)September 23, 1943 (age 82) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Mary Carson |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Frank G. Clement (father) |
| Education | University of Tennessee (BS) University of Memphis (MBA) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | National Guard |
| Years of service | 1969–1971 (active) 1971–2001 (reserve) |
| Rank | Colonel |
Robert Nelson Clement (born September 23, 1943) is an American politician and academic administrator. A member of theDemocratic Party, he served as a member of theUnited States House of Representatives forTennessee's5th congressional district from 1988 until 2003.
The son of Tennessee GovernorFrank G. Clement, Clement had served on the board of directors at theTennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and as president ofCumberland University before entering Congress.[1][2] Earlier in his career, he was a member of theTennessee Public Service Commission. Clement retired from the House to mount an unsuccessful candidacy for theUnited States Senate in2002.
Clement is the son of formerTennessee GovernorFrank G. Clement. During his father's third run for governor in1962, he joined his father on the campaign trail, often making speeches when his father developed throat trouble.[3]
Clement graduated fromHillsboro High School inNashville. He went on to attend theUniversity of Tennessee graduating in 1967.[4] He served in theNational Guard from 1969 to 1971 and also served in the reserves until 2001, retiring as a colonel.[5][6]
Clement considered buying a telephone company while he was studying at the University of Tennessee, but his father would not lend him the money. He gained knowledge about theTennessee Public Service Commission, which was tasked with regulating phone companies and other utilities. Clement then became interested in working for the commission's staff.
In 1972, Clement ran against Hammond Fowler in the Democratic primary for the incumbent's seat and won. He won by a 3 to 1 margin which was the most lopsided defeat of a statewide incumbent in Tennessee history. He went on to win againstRepublican nominee Tom Garland in the general election in what was otherwise largely a good year for Republican candidates in Tennessee. (No Republican was ever elected to the Public Service Commission in the state during its existence which later played a factor in its abolition in 1996. At 29 he was (and still is) the youngest person ever elected to statewide office in Tennessee history.[1][2]
In1978, Clement ran for the Democratic nomination for governor.[2][7] He ran second in the primary narrowly behindKnoxville bankerJake Butcher, who had finished second in the Democratic gubernatorial primary four years previously.[2]
In 1979,PresidentJimmy Carter tapped him for an unexpired term on theBoard of Directors of theTennessee Valley Authority (TVA).[2] He tried to stop the overbuilding of nuclear reactors in the TVA service area, later tellingThe (Nashville) Tennessean that the agency was trying to pay for the projects by raising rates when there was plenty of power available.[2] He stepped down in 1981.[2]
In 1982, Clement announced his candidacy for the7th Congressional District, his family's home district. The seat was being vacated by five-term incumbent RepublicanRobin Beard, who was leaving it to run againstSenatorJim Sasser, and had been renumbered from the 6th in redistricting. Clement won the Democratic nomination, but lost thegeneral election toDon Sundquist, a businessman fromMemphis who would later become a two-term governor. It was the first (and as of the 2010 elections, only) time that a Democrat had come within single digits in the 7th District and its predecessors since it fell into Republican hands in 1972. Clement said years later that he'd made a mistake by trying to run the same kind of campaign that his father had in his glory days.[2]
Temporarily out of politics, Clement remained active in Democratic circles. He also had a large network of contacts through his ongoing service in the National Guard. In 1983, Clement becamepresident ofCumberland University, a struggling privatejunior college inLebanon, 30 miles (50 kilometers) east ofNashville. Cumberland had once been one of the most prestigiousuniversities in the South, but had fallen upon hard times, never fully recovering from theGreat Depression and the widespread availability of lower-cost public higher education afterWorld War II. The nadir probably occurred when it was forced, for financial reasons, to sell its once-renownedlaw school (which Clement's father had attended) to what is nowSamford University inBirmingham and downgrade to a junior college. During Clement's tenure, the school regainedfour-year college status, and shortly later, full university status. He also tripled the school's private donations.[2]
In 1987,5th District CongressmanBill Boner left his House seat to become mayor of Nashville. Clement, who had moved to Nashville by this time, resigned as president of Cumberland on August 22 to run in the Democratic primary for the balance of Boner's term. He won the nomination over a crowded field, including most prominentlyPhil Bredesen, future mayor of Nashville and two-term governor of Tennessee, who finished second. As the Republicans had long since lost interest in a seat they hadn't won since 1875 (Democrats have faced only token opposition since 1972), Clement's victory in the special election of January 19, 1988 was a foregone conclusion. He took office that night, as soon as the results were certified. He was unopposed for a full term in November even asGeorge H. W. Bush became only the second Republican to carry Nashville in a presidential election. He was reelected six times with no substantial opposition.[8]
Despite representing one of the most Democratic districts in the country, Clement had a reputation for working across party lines. This nonpartisan style dated back to his first campaign for the Public Service Commission.[2]
On October 10, 2002, Bob Clement was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing theinvasion of Iraq.
In 2002, when Republican SenatorFred Thompson stated that he had changed his mind regarding his previous announcement that he would run for a second full term, Clement entered the Democraticprimary for Thompson's seat. He won the nomination easily, but was defeated in the November general election by former governorLamar Alexander.[9] Clement was succeeded in the House by former CongressmanJim Cooper, who is also a son of a former Tennessee governor.
Clement received the Distinguished Service Award from theAmerican Public Transit Association in 2023.[10] Clements run a Nashville-based firm, Clement & Associates, that consults on policy issues related to energy, health, and education.[11]
On February 15, 2006, Clement formed anexploratory committee for a possible run for mayor of Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County in 2007. His supporters launched a campaign website well before his official announcement.[12] Clement finished second in a crowded field including five major candidates, where the top three candidates finished only a few hundred votes apart. Clement faced former Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County law department directorKarl Dean in a runoff election on September 11, 2007.
Clement lost the election to Dean by a 52% (51,946) to 48% (47,347) margin.Clement stated after the results were tallied that he had no plans to run for public office in the future.
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Clement is married to the former Mary Carson of Nashville. They have two children and Clement has two stepchildren.
Clement currently works as a realtor in Nashville and serves on the board of directors of the Clement Railroad Hotel Museum in Dickson, Tennessee. The museum is dedicated to the history of Dickson County, Tennessee as well as the life and legacy of Clement’s father, Governor Frank G. Clement, who was born in the museum (back when it was the Hotel Halbrook) on June 2, 1920.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTennessee's 5th congressional district 1988–2003 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Houston Gordon | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromTennessee (Class 2) 2002 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
